Every autumn until late winter, the bright orange-red fruits enchant usLampionblume Physalis. The little “lanterns” can not only be collected in the garden or bought in flower shops, but also found in the forest. With their beautiful, warm colors, they are an eye-catcher and add colorful accents to arrangements, autumn wreaths, on tables or window sills. However, it is important to distinguish between the edible physalis that you can buy in the supermarket and the decorative physalis. Below we will tell you what the difference is and give you ideas for crafting with lantern flowers that are easy to implement and will bring autumn into your home.
The genus Physalis
Like tomatoes and eggplants, the Chinese lantern flower (Physalis alkekengi) belongs to the large nightshade family. It is also known as wild bladder cherry and is native to southeastern Europe and western Asia.
Note that the Chinese lantern flower is poisonous, unlike the edible Andean berries (Physalis peruviana) and pineapple cherries (Physalis pruinosa). You should therefore handle it carefully, especially if there are children and pets in the household. In contrast to the ornamental physalis, the edible physalis has much lighter sepals and light orange fruits.
Dry the lantern flower
Although lantern plants are not edible, they produce bright orange pods that resemble Chinese paper lanterns when dried. After drying, the shells retain their shape and color for years, making them wonderful fordried flower arrangementsand other decorations.
Chinese lantern flowers need to bear fruit and form a mature pod before they are ready to dry. Collect the lanterns once the pods are bright orange and fully formed, but before they begin to split. The peel should still feel moist and not papery around the stem. Cut the stems as long as possible. Water causes mold problems when drying, so collect the Chinese lantern flowers when the morning dew has dried. Only choose undamaged lanterns that show no signs of discoloration, as these damaged areas will become more visible after drying.
Physalis leaves do not dry well and have no decorative value in the finished arrangement. Remove all foliage from the stems, leaving only the lantern bowls. Each pod contains a small fruit consisting mostly of seeds. Do not break the shell to remove the fruit as this will affect the shape of the lantern and may cause it to collapse completely. The fruit inside dries along with the peel, so it will no longer be a problem once the lanterns are properly dried.
Also interesting:Chinese lantern flower in the garden: detailed guide to growing and caring for the popular flower!
You can also customize the dried lantern flowers with spray paint
Air drying ensures that the lanterns retain their shape. Dry individual stems or take two to three stems together to dry. You can tie the stems together with string, but a rubber band will hold the stems in place and contract as they dry so none of the lanterns slip out. Find a well-ventilated, dry place to hang the lanterns to dry. Avoid areas with bright light as the sun may bleach the bright orange color of the shells. It takes three or more weeks for the lanterns to dry completely. When properly dried, the shell feels like paper and the seeds may rattle inside.
Physalis skelettieren
Physalis skeletons look very impressive and can be used for various craft ideas. We'll explain to you now how to skeletonize Physalis!
You need:
- Lanterns of Physalis alkekengi
- Backsoda
- Water
- cooking pot
- old toothbrush
- Teller
This is how it works:
- Wash the physalis pods.
- Fill a pot halfway with water and add 6-7 tablespoons of baking soda.
- Place the pot on the stove and add the physalis pods.
- Cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes.
- Then add 2 tablespoons of baking powder and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Since the physalis pods float on the water like corks, you should stir them while cooking.
- As soon as the pods are cooked, remove them from the water and cut them into 5 pieces along the veins.
- Then place the plant on a plate with cold water and, while wet, carefully clean the pulp from the skeleton with a toothbrush.
- Then return the flowers to their natural shape or press them between book pages.
Atmospheric table decoration with lantern flowers
The small orange-red lanterns are ideal as a seasonal table decoration. You can place the lantern flowers fresh in a vase with water or use them dried. For a beautiful bouquet, combine lantern flowers with other autumn flowers such as chrysanthemums, asters, wheat stalks and heathers. Of course, fresh seasonal fruits such as small pears and apples as well as all kinds of rose hips and wild berries also go wonderfully with such arrangements.
Physalis look good on the table not only as whole stems, but also as individual pods. You can click them onArrange trays or platesand decorate with other autumnal table decorations. You can create a beautiful lantern flower arrangement, for example, with a small moss wreath, wheat stalks and a pillar candle in the middle.
Do you want more ideas for arrangements with lantern flowers?Take a look here.
Make a chain of lights with lantern flowers
The physalis look like small lanterns and are ideal for making illuminated autumn garlands. You can use them to quickly create a magical string of sparkling lights.
To make crafts with lantern flowers, you will need a battery-operated LED fairy light, nail scissors and a hot glue gun.
- Carefully cut a circle around the physalis stem large enough for you to pull out the fruit.
- Gently pull the fruit out of the hole.
- Cut the fruit and leave the stem with the small circle attached.
- Now put a dab of glue around the hole and position the fairy lights so that they are attached to one side.
- Apply a little more glue and reattach the circle with the stem. Once the glue has dried, everything should be firmly in place.
- Repeat the process with the other lights and you're done!
Even bare branches in a tall vase take on a special charm with a string of lantern lights
You can also make a beautiful, glowing arrangement yourself
Make an autumn wreath with lantern flowers
Physalis add a touch of color and texture to a fall wreath. Wrap the physalis branches around the base of the crown while they are still pliable and green, or remove the calyxes from the stems and glue them directly to the wreath. A pretty ribbon adds the finishing touch.
Crafts with lantern flowers for children
Autumn fairies made of felt and physalis
To make the fairies you will need the following materials: felt, a little wool yarn, wooden beads, lantern flowers, hanging ribbon, fineliner, hot glue gun or wood glue.
How to make the lantern flower fairies:
- Cut out the felt pieces. For the long pointed hat you need a long triangle. The two long sides of the hat should be about 7 cm long. For the green collar, cut a circle out of felt. Then make 8 cuts and 8 pointed “leaves”.
- For the hair, take about 8 strands of wool yarn. Using the hot glue gun, glue the hat and ribbon together and then add the hair.
- Glue all the pieces together – e.g. wooden bead to hair and hat, green collar to wooden bead, physalis to green collar.
- Then paint the fairy's face.
Star-shaped flowers
And here is a nice craft idea that promotes children's fine motor skills and artistic skills. For this project you will need dried lantern flowers and nail scissors, thin wire and twigs in a tall vase.
Cut the dried lantern flowers into 5 parts along the veins. This is very easy because Mother Nature herself created the physalis as a pentahedron. Then open the sepals and reveal the orange pearl in the middle. You can either hang the resulting star-shaped flowers on pretty branches in a tall vase or use them as aMaterial for an autumn collageuse.
Image made from natural materials
You can show the wonderful diversity of autumn with a beautiful piece of art. Cut out a vase shape from green felt and glue it to a piece of paper. Then have the children fill the vase with various finds from nature. By the way, you can also show the little ones howRoses made from autumn leavescan fold. You can attach the smaller elements such as acorns and berries to the picture with hot glue.
